The Fight for Pride
by bashful bashing basher
Summary: A shadow draik and a blue shoyru circled each other. In the end, the shoyru is abandoned. But a boy who had watched the fight and the outcome, adopts the shoyru. And so the fight begins.


Hi ppls. Here's mi neopet fic. Mi first. r/r. I don't own neopets, but I own these names. No copying. Okie dokie? Clear as a mirror? Good. Read on  
  
A cold wind blew through Meri Acre Farm, but it didn't quite make it to the dark intriguing forest right behind the farm. The tree leaves swayed little in the next gust of wind. From atop a hill behind the farmer's house, a boy the age of twelve stared into the cold, dank forest.  
"It's perfect!" he murmured to himself in excitement. Ever since his neopet, Silver Light Fire, had died by an accident in the battle dome, Jirumy had never adopted or created another pet. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could replace Silver Light Fire.  
He had decided on living without a pet, in a secluded place where he could do as he pleased. Well, he couldn't afford another house, so had decided to share one with a boy a bit older than himself.  
The winding trail ahead of him looked as if it had no end. But he wasn't in a hurry. Jirumy took his time, sniffing the fresh air, looking around at pure nature. Finally, a house came into view. Next to the red house was a fenced in cage-like arena.  
Two neopets were fighting, and it was obvious who was winning. A blue shoyru and a shadow draik circled each other wearily. The blue shoyru had bruises all over his wings with cuts and scratches all over his body.  
The shadow draik was doing very well. His arms were padded with golden armor, as was his body. A sword was in his hand, an icy snowball in the other.  
A boy stood along the side of the match with a whip in hand.  
"Come on you bastard!" he shouted as he flicked the whip in the shoyru's direction.  
Even if the whip had hit the ground, the shoyru flinched. He paused as if for a breath, and pounced.  
The shadow draik drew the snowball and then hacked with his sword. A cry of pain filled the air as the boy flicked his whip in the air and declared the shadow draik the winner.  
As the blue shoyru picked itself up gingerly, the boy walked over the to draik and soothed him out of the armor.  
Jirumy watched as the draik was praised and the shoyru rejected. A fire lupe ran out of the house, along side a yellow poogle.  
"Claws! Claws!" they chanted. With obvious joy, they ran around the draik in circles. Jirumy raised his eyebrows as the owner smiled and walked out of the cage and into the house.  
The lupe turned to the beaten shoyru. "That's the 8th time today, you bastard."  
The shoyru raised his head and glared at the lupe. "At least I didn't lose to that female aisha!"  
A growl and a scratch with a few howls were followed.  
"Cape, chill," said the poogle carelessly.  
The lupe turned his head ferociously towards the poogle.  
"What?"  
"Chill," the poogle repeated. She padded over the bloody shoyru and scoffed. "This newbie isn't worth our time." Sticking her tail up, the poogle walked out of the fenced cage.  
A growl grew from the throat of Cape. "You got lucky this time, bastard," he spat. The shoyru froze. "You're just lucky that Startail stepped in." Cape followed Startail out of the cage.  
The draik stayed behind. After both the exiting neopets were gone, he scoffed at the crumpled form that lay before him.  
"Listen, Nightwing," he said. "Our master, or your former master, is going to send you to the pound. You'd better be thankful that you aren't going to get punished before he ditches you."  
With that, the draik stalked off. As soon as the door shut, it opened again to reveal the boy with a leash.  
"Come on, Nightwing," said the boy. As the boy hooked the leash around the frightened shoyru's neck, he finally noticed Jirumy.  
They stared at each other, waiting for the other to break the silence.  
"Well," Jirumy said. His breath grew shallow. Already, he didn't like this owner.  
"Are you the boy who bought half my house?" asked the owner cautiously.  
His mind racing, Jirumy froze. What was he suppose to say again? "Um, uh, yeah, that guy who wanted to buy your house decided that he'd rather not because he just wanted to build his own." He didn't know where these lies came from, but later, he was grateful for them.  
"Oh, okay. Well, thank you for bringing me this info. Come to Neopia Central with me for a drink? I have to go there anyways, to...er...drop this pet off at the pound."  
Jirumy stared. He shook his head and blinked. "Um, okay. I'll come to Neopia Central with you, but I have business there, so we'll have to depart."  
"Okay with me. Name's Leonith."  
"Jirumy."  
They shook hands as a whimper rose from the shoyru. Leonith slapped the shoyru and told him to be quiet. Reaching down and picking up Nightwing by the horn, Leonith grimly said, "You shut up or else."  
The walk to the station was a long one, but they reached it in no time.  
They entered the 50-car train and sat down. This Neotrain was only 1 of the 5 in Neopia. The five trains traveled through train tracks that were high in the air. It took less then 5 minutes to get from the Haunted Woods to Faerie Land.  
An eerie silence fell between the two owners. The shoyru was stuffed into a suitcase before they had loaded the train.  
Time crept by slowly. Finally, a whistle blew.  
"We have arrived in Neopia Central. Please exit to the right, as people will be boarding the train through the left," the intercom box said. Streams of people filed out of the car. The suitcase was bumped into multitudes of times.  
Fresh air caught the Jirumy's lungs. Both the boys walked quietly towards the pound. Few people paid attention to the bulging suitcase.  
As Leonith filled out a form and took out Nightwing, Jirumy said goodbye. He left in a hurry, eager to leave Leonith's presence. Taking a deep breath, Jirumy slowed down a bit as he entered the Marketplace.  
Something tugged at his heart. The memory of Silver Night Fire came back to haunt him. Then something new caught his breath. Nightwing.  
No, he thought. Nothing can replace Silver Night Fire.  
Of course, said another voice. But Nightwing can help soothe the pain.  
Jirumy fought within himself until the surge of resentment made up his mind. He ran back to the pound and ran through the cages of neopets.  
A green techo was closing a cage. His hands were bloodstained and his look was blank.  
"Excuse me, sir," Jirumy said. "Is that a shoyru? A blue one?"  
"Eh?" The old neopet turned to see Jirumy better. "Yes," he said slowly, "but I would think that you would want another pet. This one is a bit, er, not prepared."  
"I'll take him," Jirumy said without hesitation. "How much?"  
The techo's brow furrowed, but remained silent. "83 np please. The shoyru's name is Nightwing_430."  
  
Well? Good, bad, just review. Flares are reasonable if they have good reasons behind them. Next chap coming if three reviews come in. 


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